Invest in Women in the Washington DC Metro Area

Chances are you or someone you know has faced nerve-wracking financial uncertainty at some point in life. You’ve worried about how to cover bills; find quality, affordable child care; or you’ve been frustrated by barriers preventing you from advancing your career.  

This is far too common a reality in the Washington region, but it doesn’t have to be this way.  Working together, we can achieve a better future.  

At Washington Area Women’s Foundation, we know that while bold visions are needed to move the needle on poverty, bold actions are long overdue.   That’s why we recently launched Together We Thrive, our five-year strategic plan for achieving consistent economic stability for all women and girls in our region. 

During the first five years of Together We Thrive, we are committed to achieving the following: 

1.  Advocate for improved policies on behalf of women and girls.
2. Pilot new methods of philanthropy and community engagement as a way to drive greater philanthropic change in our community.
3. Quintuple our investments in the region’s women and girls in order to reduce the number of women and families living in poverty.
4. Embolden the entire Washington region to collectively invest an additional $100 million.

Making this bold vision of moving the nearly 500,000 women and girls living in poverty to a place of consistent economic stabilitya reality requires the commitment of our entire community.We are excited to get to work with elected officials, business and community leaders, philanthropists, and YOU to coordinate these efforts region-wide.

We’ve wasted no time in beginning to execute this plan.

• In December we launched donor advised funds (DAFs), which will provide us with a tool to further engage women in their philanthropy and deepen the impact we’re having in the community.
• We are working with the White House Council on Women and Girls and other women’s foundations across the country to craft a strategy focused on women and girls of color. In the coming months, we’ll be engaging in a series of listening sessions to hear directly from women and girls of color.
• We are leading systems change work on child care in the region by funding, facilitating, and convening a new Washington Region Early Care & Education Workforce Network. This network will be mapping competency-based career pathways that are linked to quality and compensation and can be used across the region. As a result of this work, our region is one of five states participating in a national network convened by the National Academy of Medicine to receive training and technical assistance as we craft our regional plan.

Join us in encouraging the growth of a model community and changing our region’s future. Read the entire plan, “Together We Thrive: Opening Doors to Prosperity for All Women and Girls in the DC Region” here.